


On Loyalties

by orphan_account



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Cardverse, F/F, those darned nosy commoners
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-07
Updated: 2016-09-07
Packaged: 2018-08-13 12:52:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7977412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Queen Levi and King Eren were not quite prepared for the sacrifices rulers have to make in wars, or where the threat came from.</p>
            </blockquote>





	On Loyalties

**Author's Note:**

> there is such a lack of fem!ereri and cardverse au's that i tried my hand at writing for the first time. comment if you want, or don't  
> i welcome harsh criticism  
> inexperienced writer

The queen's eyes swept across her quarters, gaze restless. It was as though there was something worrying on her mind, enough that her normal icy cool countenance was beginning to thaw, eyelids stretched higher than usual. She moved to the ornate window, pushing back the drapes of heavy green velvet to stare out over her stronghold's grounds. The enchanted clover native only to the Club kingdom was in season, the short lush green plants spreading like a carpet across the normally barren ground. Their small white flowers had no true magical properties, but that did not deter the kingdom's poor housewives from using them in everything from teas to good-luck charms. No, it was not the flowers that were enchanted, no matter how alluring the aroma. 

It was an old legend in Clubs, that a four-leaf clover picked at midnight under the dark of a new moon could truly grant you the famed luck of the clover. The queen glared hard at the hapless greenery below, internally cursing them for not providing her people with the symbolical luck they deserved. She shook her head in frustration. Speaking to plants! What would be next?

A timid knock sounded on her bedroom door, snapping her out of her nearly self-loathing reverie. Her elegantly trained steps, misleading from her humble beginnings, swiftly carried her to the carved oak door. A moment was taken to sigh and recover every bit of her composure, knowing that the servant on the other side was a new one, deathly afraid of her rumored quick temper. She swung the door open inwards just as the man raised his hand to knock, the shocked expression on his face serving to lighten her dark mood considerably.

“Queen Levi!” he gasped, his sense of decorum obviously causing the accident nearly missed to horrify him. His face easily gave away his urge to apologize profusely, hastily stopped by the queen's derisive look and dismissive hand wave.

“What is it?” She did not regret the clipped tone of her voice; the servants should have known not to bother her at a crucial time like this for anything less than an emergency. The servant quavered, but made no move to leave.

“Ma'am, the King has returned, and-” His sentence was abruptly cut off by Levi pushing past, going as fast as she possibly could while still retaining her royal dignity. In a war-torn time such as this, the citizens needed someone composed to look up to, an unwavering pillar of pride to instill hope in them of survival, of victory. She must never show how much of a toll this was taking on her, that it was her people fighting and dying out there while she lived in a palace, the fine tapestries on the stone walls passing by as flashes of vibrant color as she walked only emphasizing this.

There were passages in ancient, molding books in the deepest corners of the palace libraries, that seemed to insinuate that the royals used to do much more than just paperwork and ordering people around, actually fighting on the front lines of any wars, but that was thousands of years ago. Back then, wars were far more common, periods of peace few and decades apart. People and their views had changed since then, the kingdoms having lived in relative good spirits with each other for longer than had ever happened before. The past few years, however, there was a noticeable strain in the atmosphere, the feeling that something, or someone, was going to snap. Nobody had expected it to be Diamonds. Especially not the royals of Clubs.

Levi slowed down as she neared her destination, the twisted layout of the mountain palace ingrained in her mind by repetition over the past decade of her rule. She descended the twisted ornate stairway gracefully, the clicks of her heels muffled by lush green carpet. This lead off into the small entrance room, the one used only by the residents of the castle. There was a bustle of servants hovering about, partially obscuring the figure of the King.

“Leave us,” Levi commanded, her voice harsher than she had meant. They all turned around and bowed to her before swiftly walking away. Thank goodness at least some servants in this castle knew how to act. King Eren's back was still turned away from Levi, her hands clutching the tight, form-molding sash around her waist. The Queen gently turned her wife around, loosing the ribbon for her with dextrous fingers. Eren's eyes were closed, her expression one of a painful, deep-set exhaustion. Levi required no spoken words to understand what the King was feeling, only reaching out to briefly tug her hand in a silent reminder of their surroundings, the responsibilities both of the young royals were fast becoming desperate to shed.

They recovered their authority from the temporary slip in composure, exiting the small room. Levi cast a quick disparaging glance at the same gaggle of servants as before, who had all obviously been listening at the door; her personal life was the only thing she didn't have an obligation to her people about. 

The trip back to the double bedroom seemed to take twice as less as it had before, no familiar feeling of dread accompanying it this time. The door was shut and locked, wood too thick to succumb to prying ears. Eren took a few shaky steps towards the couple's large bed, collapsing in a vague sitting position. Levi sat down next to her, waiting patiently while the King took several shuddering breaths.

“How did it go?” she asked, already knowing the answer, yet still attempting to cling to that last bit of hope that she was wrong, so very wrong. Eren's voice was only wavering slightly when she answered. 

“I spoke to Erwin and Armin. They..they knew about the attack.” Levi sucked in a breath, fists tightening in the expensive material of her intricately embroidered dress. Eren wasn't hesitant anymore, relaying with an increasing amount of anger and built-up worry. 

“In fact, they ordered it! How could they do that? Mikasa, Jean, Marco, all people who grew up with Armin! Who cared about him! And you knew Erwin! Why-?” Her anger turned into sobs all too quickly. “They're all dead, Levi. Dead.”

The Queen felt an odd hollowness in her, any more tears refusing to escape from her overused glands. She gently tilted her wife's head to face her, staring directly into her beloved's beautiful, enchanting, red-rimmed eyes. They used to be so strong, the two of them. Where had that gone, that happy, comfortable early reign, when the kingdom's worst problem was an extended cold season? Levi felt that hollow part of her harden, into something icy as the country she called home.

“It's time for war.”

**Author's Note:**

> in case anyone was wondering, erwin and armin were the king and queen of diamonds. king and queen are just titles, and they don't have to be in love romantically, though they should know how to work together.


End file.
